<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>counterfeit reality by bunnieju</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403273">counterfeit reality</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnieju/pseuds/bunnieju'>bunnieju</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ATEEZ (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Black Mirror Episode: s03e04 San Junipero, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Death, Gentle Kissing, Growing Old, Idiots in Love, M/M, Virtual Reality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:29:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnieju/pseuds/bunnieju</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hongjoong and Seonghwa had eternity to be together, just not yet.</p><p> </p><p>Seongjoong Week 2020: Day 4</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Seongjoong Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>counterfeit reality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>if you're unfamiliar with san junipero, it is a server in the black mirror universe used as a therapy method for old people to experience youth again and for the dying to live in after death. a beachside city resort; often thought of as heaven on earth.</p><p>thanks to the mods for hosting this seongjoong week!!</p><p>edit (8/8/2020): it has been brought to my attention that i misspelled hongjoong's name in the description and must flee the ficdom in shame bc i didnt notice for months</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The scene was set under the blanket of darkness that was velvet blue sky, immaculate in its beauty. The light of stars forged infinite patterns in the sky, created only for the eyes of those that yearned for gentler light, for the ability to see their world with a softer glow.</p><p> </p><p>Two bodies pressed together as close as possible, appearance demonstrating carefree youth but eyes reflecting unforgettable years upon years of life. Two souls intertwined so beautifully, healing every imperfection caused by their mortality. Two lovers swayed to the gentle tunes coming from the red Cadillac parked a few feet away. </p><p> </p><p>With every step the sand shifted — evidence of their existence somewhere, even if not there — but they none of their warmth under the soles of Hongjoong’s feet, a chill as cold as the night instead settling against his skin. Waves rolled in white-tipped and crashed a reflective midnight blue, spreading themselves over the shore as far as they could. The gentle crashing was background to the scene, never noisy but ever-present in sound, as if to remind them of the life outside their bubble, as if to remind them that they shouldn’t lose themselves in the comfort of each other’s embrace.</p><p> </p><p>“God, this is so fucking cliche!” Hongjoong groaned, wrapping his arms tighter around Seonghwa’s shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“Any cliche is beautiful with you.” Seonghwa simply smiled brighter at the embarrassed face of his love.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up, before I punch you in the face.” Hongjoong buried his heating face in Seonhwa’s chest, but Seonghwa only broke into loud laughter, swaying their bodies a little slower.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong felt a light kiss pressed into his hair and raised his head to look at Seonghwa.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone looking from the distance would deem it an odd sight. Hongjoong with his bright red hair, pastel yellow graphic t-shirt tucked into his high waisted light wash jeans was a stark contrast against Seonghwa’s perfectly styled black hair, black leather jacket thrown over a plain white shirt, and black jeans. Not to mention how they stood mid-beach just swaying to whatever came from the radio of their car.</p><p> </p><p>There something about the scene that made Hongjoong feel like he’d been reborn. Their energy vibrated through the air in perfect compliment, washing over every surface, cleaning every sin they’d ever fallen to, filling every crack they’d received with every fall.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“How much longer?” Hongjoong whispered, eyes meeting Seonghwa’s. That was the fateful question that burned at their reality every week, for years now, ever since Hongjoong came across the new tourist Seonghwa being beaten a new one in the alley behind tucker’s bar.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong had just leaned against the alley wall and watched that day as a couple of San Junipero locals eventually dragged the tourist and threw him in the dumpster, laughing their asses off at the fresh bait that got his first San Junipero awakening. A few moments after the locals rounded the corner back onto the main street, a man’s head popped over the side of the dumpster, unscathed and in no pain.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong had laughed at him the second their eyes met, before saying the line that would change his existence. “<em> You new around here, kid? Get out of the trash, let’s talk a bit about San Junipero. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>Two strangers given a second chance at youth and the eternity ahead of them.</p><p> </p><p>“Twenty minutes.” Seonghwa pressed another kiss this time to Hongjoong’s forehead.</p><p> </p><p>On that night, he’d managed to bring out something new in Seonghwa.</p><p> </p><p>The cold air bit at Hongjoong’s skin at the top of the cliff, but he endured it, for Seonghwa couldn’t feel it as a tourist and there was no way he could ever get sick in San Junipero. The perks of counterfeit reality.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> What? </em>” Seonghwa had turned to him in shock the moment the words left his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Jump with me, Seonghwa, </em> ” Hongjoong repeated, rolling his eyes before reaching towards Seonghwa’s hand. “ <em> This is San Junipero! What better way to learn how infinite you are here than to jump off the highest cliff? </em>”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Are you listening to yourself? </em> ” Seonghwa exclaimed, pulling his hand back and taking a few steps back. “ <em> It doesn’t matter if this just a virtual reality! You’re asking me, a stranger, to jump off a cliff with you! Doesn’t that sound ridiculous to you too? </em>”</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong sighed before turning to Seonghwa and reaching his hand out as an offering. “<em> Seonghwa, I’ve been on loop in this place for over thirty years. At some point, stranger or not-stranger doesn’t matter. All that matters is that addiction to life that clings at your bones and rattles your body every night. I’m not asking you to trust me, not yet, just trust yourself and the people that put you here. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>Silence never completely overtook them, instead, it was filled with the quiet chirping of crickets and the loud crashing of waves below them. Seonghwa stared at Hongjoong’s face, then at his outstretched hand, then back at his face, deep in contemplation over his options. But it didn’t seem to take as long as Hongjoong thought it would as a few moments later he heard Seonghwa mutter a ‘<em> fuck it </em>’ and Seonghwa reached forward to join their hands.</p><p> </p><p>Another decision that would change their existence.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong would like to believe that he’d somehow found God — maybe in himself, maybe in Seonghwa, maybe in the counterfeit reality he’d turned to. Something that would tell him that he’d made the right decision on that hospital bed over forty years before. That every single bad card he’d been dealt, that every single decision he’s made, that every single decision he’s yet to make, will all lead him to the heaven he’s so desperately tried to build with his bare hands. That he’d be allowed eternity basking in the warmth of the life he so desperately craved; if not for him deserving it, at least for pity of the life he was never granted.</p><p> </p><p>But for now, his eternity was limited to five hours a week.</p><p> </p><p>He’d never be selfish enough to ask for eternity yet, not while Seonghwa still had a physical body in the real world and a life that still needed him around. He would never ask Seonghwa to leave his kids parentless just for him, no matter how old Seonghwa’s kids grew. He would never ask Seonghwa to abandon his found family, not when his body hadn’t started growing even weaker, not when he didn’t have to.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong didn’t have a choice, as the cancer had consumed his youthful body at a mere twenty-six years old, so he’d ensure that at least Seonghwa got to make the most of his time in reality.</p><p> </p><p>He’d wait patiently for the day that time would dissolve into itself, as shapeless and ever-flowing as a river to sweep them away to live in each other’s warmth for as long as they’d be allowed, for as long as the servers never died.</p><p> </p><p>Hongjoong leaned forward, placing a light kiss against Seonghwa’s lips, before resting his forehead against Seonghwa’s. “Seonghwa?” He muttered, placing another light kiss on Seonghwa’s lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes?” Seonghwa whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>12:00 A.M.</p><p> </p><p>Their eternity was over and he was left to wait another week alone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading!!</p><p>you can find me on twitter @bunnieju<br/>also on curiouscat at curiouscat.com/bunnieju</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>